CAREER: The role of language in children's acquisition of number concepts

职业：语言在儿童习得数字概念中的作用

• 批准号: 0845966
• 负责人: Anna Shusterman
• 金额: $ 71.62万
• 依托单位: Wesleyan University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2009
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2009-07-01 至 2016-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0845966&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: CAREER; role; language; children; acquisition

The proposed five-year project seeks to investigate the connections between symbolic and nonsymbolic representations of number and the role of language in facilitating the transformation from approximate number sense to exact numerical systems in 3- to 5-year old children. The basic research question is as follows: Do developments in symbolic and non-symbolic number systems occur in tandem during the preschool years? Both systems of numerical representation are dynamically changing during this period of early childhood, but the extent to which these developments are correlated and the underlying mechanisms that bind them are currently not known. The following three lines of studies will be investigated: (1) Correlational analysis of symbolic and non-symbolic number representations in preschoolers; (2) Developmental account of numbers in oral-deaf children, and; (3) Developmental account of attentional shifts from objects to sets in young children. Various empirical tests with hypotheses will be conducted annually, including a longitudinal study in the case of study (1). The proposed educational activities include: (1) annual workshops for teachers on number development for both early childhood educators and educators of the deaf; (2) summer fellowship program for undergraduate students; (3) development and teaching of a capstone course at a preschool for the deaf, and; identification of mechanisms to further evaluate and disseminate preschool mathematics programs for deaf to hard-of-hearing children. It is important to know whether deaf children are delayed on preschool-level math skills, because such a delay could entrench otherwise bright children on a path away from optimal mathematical learning in school and other contexts. This knowledge can directly translate into interventions that reduce the well-documented achievement gap between deaf and hearing students in STEM disciplines.The proposed project will impact STEM education by advancing our knowledge of the foundations of mathematical learning before children enter formal educational settings. The studies will advance our understanding of: (1) how preschool children acquire number concepts; (2) what role language plays in the development of number concepts, and; (3) how language delays impact the development of number concepts. More broadly, the project investigates how symbolic systems (like language) interact with non-symbolic systems (like quantity representations) over the course of development. In addition, this work will provide a much needed analysis of number development in young deaf or hard-of-hearing children because studies of numeracy in the deaf rarely extend to the preschool ages. The proposed work will provide us with a better understanding of conceptual development of number in young children, which hopefully will contribute to the development of appropriate and effective preschool curricula to support future mathematical learning. The proposed project also includes participation by undergraduate researchers and collaborations with early childhood teachers and practitioners.

拟议的五年项目旨在研究数字的符号和非符号表示之间的联系，以及语言在促进 3 至 5 岁儿童从近似数感向精确数字系统转变中的作用。基本研究问题如下：学龄前阶段符号和非符号数字系统的发展是否同时发生？在幼儿期，这两种数字表示系统都在动态变化，但这些发展的相关程度以及结合它们的潜在机制目前尚不清楚。将进行以下三方面的研究：（1）学龄前儿童符号和非符号数字表示的相关分析； (2) 口聋儿童的数字发展账户； (3)幼儿注意力从物体到场景的转移的发展解释。每年都会进行各种带有假设的实证检验，包括研究（1）案例中的纵向研究。拟议的教育活动包括： (1) 为幼儿教育工作者和聋人教育工作者举办关于数字发展的年度教师讲习班； （2）本科生暑期奖学金项目； (3) 在聋人幼儿园开发和教授顶点课程；确定进一步评估和传播聋哑儿童学前数学课程的机制。了解聋哑儿童学前数学技能是否落后非常重要，因为这种落后可能会导致原本聪明的孩子在学校和其他环境中远离最佳数学学习。这些知识可以直接转化为干预措施，减少聋哑学生和听力正常学生在 STEM 学科中的成绩差距。拟议的项目将通过在儿童进入正规教育环境之前提高我们对数学学习基础的了解来影响 STEM 教育。这些研究将加深我们对以下方面的理解：（1）学龄前儿童如何获得数字概念； (2) 语言在数字概念的发展中扮演什么角色； (3) 语言延迟如何影响数字概念的发展。更广泛地说，该项目研究符号系统（如语言）在开发过程中如何与非符号系统（如数量表示）交互。此外，这项工作还将对年轻聋哑或听力障碍儿童的数字发展提供急需的分析，因为对聋哑人的计算能力的研究很少延伸到学龄前儿童。拟议的工作将使我们更好地理解幼儿数字概念的发展，这有望有助于开发适当和有效的学前课程以支持未来的数学学习。拟议的项目还包括本科生研究人员的参与以及与幼儿教师和从业者的合作。